cerealjoe | KTX is like the TGV... only thousands of kilometers away (Reply)

My day yesterday was spent in transport and with CSers. Almost felt like being back home as the train was French technology and I see plenty of CSers back home.

There are so many trains going to Seoul from Busan (one every twenty minutes) that they have a system where no one waits close to the tracks, you're let in about 15 minutes before the train leaves. Buying tickets is also amazingly easy on their machines... that made me think, are the SNCF machines also in English or only in French? I really can't remember, or more likely I never paid enough attention to remember.

I'm quite glad I paid more and took the fast train (not just because it felt good seeing that "Alstom" written in big on each wagon) but because I already felt bored after four hours... if it had been seven hours I would have gone out of my mind. The scenery isn't really idyllic, it's just those tall buildings with huge numbers written on them, rice fields, construction works and mountains in the background most of the time.

I didn't what these were from the picture on the bag but they were tiny little puff things filled with chocolate stuff. Once again, the package kind of wins over the content and taste. There was also a collector card thing inside... apparently there is a code on it and I could win something (see, my Korean is getting super duper awesome or maybe their little pictures explaining what could happen are good).

I also happened to arrive back in Seoul right on the day of the monthly CS Seoul meeting. I finally got to go into one of those suburban tall buildings with the huge numbers of them. It was a set of "Hyundai" buildings. It was a very, very, very long way away by metro. I'm talking at least an hour. I really don't know how people do it who have to commute daily for hours, that's the main reason why I really think that a flat in Toulon would definitely beat commuting there from Marseille every single day.

Anywho, I was the only recently arrived and short term traveller there but everyone was lovely and there were two absolutely adorable doggies!

Actually attending such events really shows the differences that exist among CS communities. In Seoul and South Korea they seem to have more bigger events (retreats, etc.) rather than smaller local events. Back in Helsinki we mainly have the weekly meetings and the local events that just focus on going out for coffee or things of the sort. And both communities rock, so everything can exist!

Also, if I could give one advice, it's that it's best to bring an international credit card along rather than cash. It's much easier in some places outside of Seoul to find "global" ATMs than a place that would change currency. For example, the closest place to Busan Station (the main train station in Busan which is the third or fourth largest city in the country) is a good twenty minutes' walk away. Actually in Seoul also it's not all that easy because those official looking change bureaus and banks that will change currency all have funky working hours.

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